figuring out

present participle of figure out

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of figuring out House leaders tasked women’s groups with figuring out how to fix the issue. — Anna Liss-Roy, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2026 Joseph spent some of the offseason figuring out how to make teams pay for keeping backs and tight ends in to protect. — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 6 Nov. 2026 Now, business owners are figuring out how to reopen, and police are working out of a bus. — Christopher Harris, CBS News, 6 Nov. 2026 Learning to fight without Starlink Despite the value of Starlink, Ukraine’s military and defense companies have already been figuring out ways to fight on without the satellite service. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026 The idea is to let an assistant check connected accounts for tasks such as unpaid invoices and draft reminders without waiting for a prompt, so users spend less time figuring out what to ask for. — Wen Shao, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026 Yes, and people often don’t understand that for a lot of first-year students, who are generally under 21 but still wanting to drink, figuring out how to get alcohol, where the parties are, where the fun is going to be, is a challenge for them. — Rachel Cohen Booth, Vox, 23 Oct. 2026 The company now has to navigate those challenges on its own while also figuring out why its current content slate hasn’t resulted in record profits. — Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 23 Oct. 2026 Michael is also in charge of interfacing with frontier AI labs and figuring out long-term coordination on AI across the government. — Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for figuring out
Verb
  • Once he’s done, students get to work on solving problems Damianides has posted around the classroom.
    — Alicia Fabbre, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2026
  • The Gates Foundation has funded research and advocacy aimed at solving that problem, and Breakthrough has backed at least two early-stage companies developing their own solutions.
    — Alex Cuadros, ProPublica, 10 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • The seven-minute video, sent in early May 2021, offered a step-by-step guide for carrying out modern warfare in a country where everything seemed to be unraveling.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The familiar imperial arc—expansion, overreach, strain, unraveling—once played out across a century or even a millennium.
    — NIALL FERGUSON, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • The new findings provide another route toward answering it, but much of the biology remains unexplored.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2026
  • There’s also a big thread on the Race-Dezert forum where the man behind this mission is answering questions from the off-road community.
    — Andrew P. Collins, The Drive, 4 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Researchers are still working out exactly how the parasite causes this change, but studies have found changes in proteins in the host’s brain as the parasite manipulates it.
    — Tara Deans, The Conversation, 30 Oct. 2026
  • In October 2026, Marinis told The Hollywood Reporter that the creative team was still working out the new show’s airing schedule and considering whether to introduce the spinoff through an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
    — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • The best way to honor Veterans Day is to take President Eisenhower’s admonition to heart and work for peace in the future, resolving that, henceforth, Americans will have to serve only in wars where America’s vital interests are truly at stake.
    — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Moving forward with an office that would fundamentally change how Los Angeles County is governed, without first resolving these questions, is putting the cart before the horse.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 10 Nov. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Figuring out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/figuring%20out. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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